Garth George: Let them sort it out for themselves

John Key and his Government have woken up to the fact that any further involvement in Middle East madness is a no-win situation for us.

At last it seems John Key and his Government have woken up to the fact that many New Zealanders have known for decades: any further involvement in Middle East madness is a no-win situation for us.

It's a damn shame that we have to make even a token contribution to the determination of the United States, Britain, Australia and others to bring some sort of stability to countries such as Iraq and Syria.

However, trade and political considerations made that inevitable and it is to the Government's credit that our response this time has been absolutely minimal.

History shows that any attempt to impose Western principles on Islamic, or any other, philosophy is doomed to failure.

Nine hundred-odd years ago, in 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade to chase Muslims out of holy places in and near Jerusalem.

After an off-and-on 200-year struggle for control of the Holy Land, in 1291 the conflict ended in failure with the fall of the last Christian stronghold at Acre. And that was the end of it - thousands of lives lost for nothing.

In the past century, Western fears turned to the creeping of communism into Asia and set out to bring that to a stop. It failed. But, in the meantime, scores of New Zealanders died.

A total of 5000 Kiwi soldiers served in Korea, 33 were killed in action and 79 wounded. The war ended in a draw and the demarcation zone remains the most tender of spots.

In Vietnam, a total of 3890 New Zealand military volunteers served between June 1964 and December 1972. Thirty-seven were killed and 187 wounded. The war was a total loss and communism flourishes still.

Then came Afghanistan where 10 New Zealand Defence Force soldiers have died, most while carrying out their duties as part of the Provincial Reconstruction Team. Yet Afghanistan remains a festering sore and, left to itself, will revert to its age-old, thuggish feudalism - no matter how hard the West tries to stop it.

It is the Afghan experience that makes me fear for the few military personnel we have already sent to Iraq. They might be seen by the allies as non-combatants, but they certainly won't by the Muslim fundamentalists.

The non-combatant reconstruction teams in Afghanistan were targets just because they were there, and I suspect that the troops we have sent to Iraq will be, too.

We can only pray that none of the trainers we have sent, and who are kept heavily protected "behind the wire", is gunned down by one of their trainees. It's been known to happen in that benighted land.

The even more sinister aspect of this whole business is the spread of maniacal Muslim fanaticism to this country, Australia, Britain, Canada and others. Mr Key is to be congratulated for beefing up our security laws and services to cope with this threat.

Mr Key says government agencies have a watch list of between 30 and 40 people of concern in the "foreign fighter" context, and another 30 or 40 under further investigation.

He said five New Zealand citizens or residents were known to be fighting in Syria but the number could be larger because dual citizens or New Zealanders could have left from other countries.

I suppose these are the same sort of people who join gangs in this country and have decided that the Islamic State is a far more exciting gang than, say, the Mongrel Mob or Black Power.

After all, Isis will put guns or bombs in their hands and tell them to kill people.

So what do we do? The West should simply pull right out of the area altogether and leave it to the natives to sort themselves out - or not.

Ah, but what about oil?

garth.george@hotmail.com